What is this bubble thing next to Marco's face?

Question

The white bubble thing coming out of Marco's mouth kinds of stands out. What is it?

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Then why does it look like that? That looks more like a speech bubble than anything else. — ton.yeung, Dec 16 '14 at 06:45

score 1 · Answer 1 · answered Feb 15 '15 at 16:20

I can only see three possible things causing this as it's an anime.

It's common for small bubbles like that to be in mangas to express a sigh, sometimes it occurs in animes too, but it's more common for that to happen when characters enter a more comedic and less serious stage (it tends to be fairly obvious).

Another reason is the above mentioned bubble-gum bubble, no further explanation required (you will know by observing the context if he put something in his mouth).

The third possibility (that I can see) is that it's a part of his soul. In Japanese culture the soul can exit through your mouth, normally through great shock or near death experiences. It is also fairly common that some characters have special powers that lets part of the soul slip out through their mouths for various reasons.

I haven't watched this anime so I can't tell for sure since I don't know the context. My answer could however be of use to anyone else wondering in general about bubbles from the mouth. Just by looking I'd place it more likely that it's a gum-bubble.

score 1 · Answer 2 · answered Mar 23 '15 at 08:09

I'm pretty sure it is not an "emotion bubble" like @seijitsu suggests:

In this particular scene, there is no trigger/reason to show one. These bubbles are shown in anime usually when a character is disappointed or tired. But Marcos is actually joyful for the medicine.
This anime has never used this type of artifact in any other episode.
The bubble is moving up & down as Marcos speaks. However, the traditional "emotion bubble" either remains static OR moves in a direction opposite to the mouth while it fades away.

The fact that it moves up & down as he speaks suggests that it is something that exists physically (unlike "emotion bubbles", which are more abstract) - given the above, and the fact that Marcos had just eaten a small candy-like medicine, it is most likely just some sort of bubble made out of the medicine's gum.

I know it looks odd (a gum bubble should probably be smaller) - but that's probably attributed to the artists' drawing style.

Astral Sea · Accepted Answer · 2016-04-26T14:50:21.227

Like AnimatedLime and Omega said, that is his medicine. For Arachnids M.O. Organ holders, their medicine is consumed in the form of bubble gum. That is Marcos blowing a bubble from his medicine.

For what it is worth, the bubble looks a little better in the manga.

Taking a type of drug will bring out the abilities gained through the Mosaic Organ to make the individual capable of facing against the Terraformar race on Mars. The drug varies between an injection, biting a vial with a substance inside, consuming a type of tablet, or sniffing a type of powder.

Different bases have different medicines.

Plants: Capsules

Insects: Injections

Crustaceans: Smoke, cigars like Sylvester Asimov or opium pipes like Onizuka Keiji.

Fishes: Powder, Adolf snorts the powder

This image covers the above 4 types.